This invention is in the field of alternative fuels to power our critical transportation industries. The steam engine, using coal as the energy source, made the industrial revolution possible, and powered the early transportation systems. The more flexible internal combustion engine, using petroleum fuels, has since displaced coal and steam engines from transportation systems, both commercial and military. But petroleum reserves are limited, and petroleum energy is expensive, whereas coal reserves are very large, and coal energy is low cost. In energy units, worldwide coal reserves are about thirtyfold greater than worldwide petroleum reserves. Energy prices vary, but coal energy usually costs about one-tenth the cost of petroleum energy. As a result, many efforts are underway to derive fuels from coal which can be used in internal combustion engines.
Some examples of these efforts to adapt coal for use in internal combustion engines, in transportation applications, are as follows:                (1) Railroad locomotive diesel engines were operated experimentally on pulverized coal suspended in water slurries. Engine operation was reasonably satisfactory. However, excessive fuel injection nozzle wear resulted, perhaps from solid coal particle impact on nozzle surfaces, even when sapphire nozzle inserts were used. Combustion benefits expected from smaller coal particle size were rather poorly realized. This has been attributed to coal particles reagglomerating after fuel injection into the engine combustion chamber. The results of these diesel engine experiments are summarized in the following publication:                    Coal Fueled Diesel Engines, 1993, edited by J. Caton and H. Webb, published by ASME, Publ. No. ICE, Vol 19.                        (2) The Fischer-Tropsch process, for transforming coal into liquid hydrocarbon fuels, was developed, out of necessity, by Germany during World War II. Currently, South Africa and China are reported to be developing improved forms of this Fischer Tropsch process, in order to increase domestic supplies of transportation hydrocarbon fuels. Limited available information indicates that the overall energy efficiency of these coal to liquids processes are rather low, a large coal quantity yielding a small hydrocarbon fuel output.        (3) Selected coals, and biomass, have long been transformed into solid coke, by devolatilization in coke ovens, for use in the iron and steel industry. Devolatilization is a complex physical and chemical process, which separates solid coke from several volatile matter products, such as liquid carbonaceous fuels and tars. These volatile matter products are recovered in byproduct coke ovens, but are not currently used as fuels for internal combustion engines.        
In the United States, the need for a reliable, long-term, domestic, source of transportation fuel, for commercial and military uses, has long been recognized. In America, domestic petroleum reserves are very limited, whereas domestic coal reserves are very large. Coal and biomass derived fuels, for transportation uses, could substantially improve our national defense and economic capabilities.